"You're jealous."

"Of what?" I was baffled at this sudden turn in the conversation.

"Of me. Of my power. You couldn't stand it when I surpassed your abilities."

"Don't be asinine."

"Oh, do you deny it?" he asked. He had a compet- itive, smirky expression on his face that I wanted to slap off.

"I won't even dignify that with an answer. The things which you pursue, Caimbeui, are vainglorious and, ultimately, irrelevant."

"That's something else you do," he said. "You al- ways call me Caimbeui. I haven't been called by that name in three hundred years."

"Very well. Harlequin," I said. "But this is all be- side the point. The point is you think the Horrors have returned and that you have beaten them single- handedly, don't you? Or at least once. I have no idea what actually happened in Maui because you always leave things out when it's not all about you."

He gave me an annoyed look.

"Very well, Aina," he said sullenly. "There was a group of kahunas using blood magic on Haleakala. They managed to open a portal-some of the Enemy even managed to get through. But they were stopped in time. They were sent back into the void. 28

"See, nothing to worry about."

"Let's see. First, you encounter them on the metaplanes. You manage to 'defeat' them there. Next, some of them manage to breach this plane. And you think they've been dealt with?

"Well, I've been having dreams lately and I think you're wrong. I think you failed."

He laughed.

"Aina has a dream and we're all supposed to tremble in our boots. Is that it?"

"I had forgotten this charming side to your per- sonality, Caimbeui. I've been right before."

"And you've been wrong."

"Not often."

He didn't have an answer for that.

"I thought you would be thrilled at this news," he said at last. "You're the only one who still under- stands what it was like. Back then. During the Scourge."

I shrugged. "There's always Alachia," I said. "And Ehran. Oh, but I forgot about your tiff with him. Surely they remember."

"Alachia sees it differently than we do. She al- ways has. And Ehran isn't worth a pimple on a troll's butt. As for the others-"

"Don't hold back, Caimbeui, how do you really feel?"

After giving me a nasty look, he went and refilled his glass.

"Bring me some water," I said.

In a moment, he placed a tumbler in my hand and settled himself opposite me again. Another long silence played out between us. The water was cool and washed the strong taste of the whiskey out of my mouth.

"Tell me what happened," I said at last. "The first time."

He didn't answer me for a moment. Then he spoke.

"They were constructing a bridge, of sorts, using the energy spike from the Ghost Dance as a locator. They are as foul as I remembered, Aina. No, perhaps worse, for it has been so long since I'd seen them that they'd begun to blur in my memory.

"I had to test the runners to be sure they had what it took to stand against the Enemy. For the most part they succeeded. One fell during the trials, but they accomplished what I set them to do. They retrieved the Voice, but didn't make it back to the bridge be- fore a man named Darke captured me. The bastard was working with the Enemy and had been follow- ing me across the metaplanes the whole time. And I'd thought I was tracking him.

"He was performing blood magic to corrupt the site. How many children were sacrificed I'll never know. But Thayla sang and the enemy fell back, and now we're safe."

I almost choked on my water.

"Wait a minute," I said. "That all ties up a little too neatly. Thayla may be able to keep them at bay, but who will protect her from people like Darke?"

"Oh, some of the runners stayed with her," he said casually.

"But you didn't volunteer for that duty," I said. 30

"Don't be ridiculous," he said. "I'm far too valu- able to be tied to one spot like that. Besides, as long as she's there, they can't get through."

"Not there, at any rate," I said. "And you're sure the creatures were driven back in Maui?"

"Of course," he said.

And how I wanted to believe him.

I stared into the fire. Long ago, according to our legends, Thayla's voice had driven the Horrors off. She had sacrificed herself for her people, like any great monarch would. Perhaps Caimbeui was right. Maybe he had accomplished it. Maybe he had driven them back. For now.

I relaxed a little. Maybe now there would be time to plan. To prepare. To warn those who needed to know.

The telecom beeped, startling me out of my thoughts.

"Who could be calling at this hour?" I wondered aloud.

"It might be for me," he said. "I left this number."

Oh, splendid, I thought. Just what I need, Caimbeul's little friends with my restricted number.

"Hello," I said into the old-fashioned videoless re- ceiver I'd had installed in this room.

There was a long pause, then a loud burst of static. I jerked back, dropping the receiver onto the floor.

"Aina," I heard. The sound filled the room. An impossibility. And, oh sweet mother, I knew that voice.

"Aina," it said. "I have come back. I have come for you."

Then the line went dead.

"What was that?" Caimbeui demanded.

The room was cold. Colder than the dead of win- ter. Colder than the grave. For I knew from long ex- perience that there were things worse than death.

"That," I said, my voice shaking, "was the past come back to haunt us. Harlequin. You didn't stop them from coming through on Maui, my dear. One of them is here. Now. And he's coming for me."

She is standing on a cliff overlooking the sea. The gulls dive for fish, crying with their broken voices. Below on the beach, a boy and girl play. They chase each other, leaving footprints in the sand that are washed away by the incoming tide.

The children's high-pitched voices float up to her, but she can't make out what they're saying. Then, as she watches, the sea turns red and bleeds onto the beach.

"Don't be ridiculous," Caimbeui said.

"Are you deaf?" I asked. "You were here. You heard it."

"A prank, perhaps," he said.

"That was no prank and you know it," I said. "I know 'that voice."

I turned away, running my hands over my arms to warm them. It had been so long. A time out of mind. Even so, I would never forget that sound. The sound of Ysrthgrathe's voice.

Like chalk on a blackboard. Like the whisper of a child. Like breaking glass. Like the dear departed. Whatever would be most effective.

A fine, cold sweat broke out on my back. No, I 33

thought, I'll not give way to that so fast. I clamped down on the panic. He'd be expecting that. No, I'd have to be careful and deliberate.

"It's only one," Caimbeui said. "We can deal with one."

"It's not just one," I said angrily. "Don't you re- member anything I told you then about him? I seem to recall that we did spend some time talking all those years ago. Or is your memory as convenient as it ever was?"

"I thought we agreed not to discuss that time," he said. "But you keep bringing it up."

"I'm not discussing that time. I'm asking you if you remember what I told you then about Ysrth- grathe."

"That's a roundabout way of doing it."

"Will you shut up and listen? Frag it, you are so oblivious to everything but yourself. Didn't you hear a word I said then? Oh, I give up."

I spun about and strode from the room. I had to get to my grimoire. There were preparations to be made.

When the last of my defenses was in place, I be- gan to relax a little. It concerned me that I might be making even more of a target of myself. Strong magic stuck out like a sore thumb these days. But it didn't really matter, he'd already found me.

Caimbeui knocked on the door to my study.

"Go away," I said.

"Don't be difficult, Aina," he said. "Let me in." 34